1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle monitor apparatus and, more particularly, to a vehicle monitor apparatus provided with a camera in a vehicle interior and adapted to monitor the interior and exterior of a vehicle with the use of images taken with this camera.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, there are the known vehicle interior monitor apparatus for monitoring the vehicle interior, in order to permit a taxi driver to check a passenger and ensure the security thereof, or in order to monitor acts of a child in the vehicle. For example, the vehicle interior monitor apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-119687 (Patent Document 1) is equipped with a video camera arranged as directed backward, on a support of an inner mirror of the vehicle. The apparatus is arranged to monitor the vehicle interior, while displaying an image taken with this video camera, on a monitor display provided in a region where a driver can visually recognize the image.
There are also the known monitor apparatus with a drive recorder, for example, for prevention of an accident of the vehicle, for investigation of the cause in the event of occurrence of an accident, and so on. For example, the safety drive recorder disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-142181 (Patent Document 2) is arranged to record and save images taken with a plurality of small cameras.
Furthermore, the automobile monitor system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-182454 (Patent Document 3) is also known as an apparatus capable of taking images of plural regions around the vehicle with a camera. In this monitor system, the camera is disposed in the vehicle interior and this camera is arranged to take a forward image of the vehicle and also take a backward image of the vehicle reflected by a mirror. In this manner, the monitor system is able to take both the forward and backward images of the vehicle with only one camera.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-119687    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-142181    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-182454
Incidentally, either of the vehicle interior monitor apparatus disclosed in the foregoing Patent Document 1 and the drive recorder disclosed in the foregoing Patent Document 2 is arranged to take the image with the camera or the images with the cameras. For this reason, the apparatus can be provided with the camera that can be used for both of the monitor of the vehicle interior and the drive recorder. In this case, the camera needs to take the forward and backward images of the vehicle, and the use of the mirror as in the monitor system disclosed in the forgoing Patent Document 3 enables the single camera to take the forward and backward images of the vehicle.
However, when the camera is provided in the vehicle interior to monitor the outside of the vehicle, the camera must be located at a position where it does not block the driver's view. Positions not to block the driver's view are limited, and are, for example, somewhere on a ceiling of the vehicle interior, above the inner mirror, or inside the inner mirror. When the camera was mounted at such a location to take the exterior image outside the vehicle, there was the problem that the hood of the vehicle or the like was taken in the image to fail effective utilization of the image taking region and decrease the volume of information relative to the imagable region.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a vehicle monitor apparatus capable of acquiring more information through effective utilization of an image taking region of a camera on the occasion of taking interior and exterior images of a vehicle with the single camera.